I looked at the knife back in July. According to the shop, it was not done there. Whoever modified it did a pretty good job, but unfortunately not original.

I think that you are 100% correct Joe. The original owner was a Korean veteran in the US Navy. I would be willing to bet a dollar to a donut that he himself, or someone on a ship tried to balance out the weight distribution of the 8" blade by removing the aluminum buttcap and installing brass in it's place.

That is exactly what I told the guy that had it when he told me the original owner was in the Navy. Those guys generally have access to machine shops of some type and for sure brass.

Hard to say exactly when it was made. CJM was not totally out of the picture through the mid 50's anyway. The translucent snaps also showed up again in the early 50's on some Bowie's as you know. Moore probably had some left over and used them prior to getting the brown snaps.

Late 40's to possibly very early 50's is what I would guess. The blade grind lends itself to that period. The longer lower quillion also was seen on more that a few knives of the period. If I was to give a range, it would be 1948-1951